Foreword

Chinese Mingding Destiny possesses a complete core value system, aiming to restore what we can recognise, as well as the entirety of the Christian faith, gradually. Some aspects may be present in the theological systems of the past few years, while others may have been absent previously. A crucial component of the Chinese Mingding Destiny's core value system is the power of the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is key to obtaining power. This was originally revealed in the Bible, but somehow got lost along the way.

The Power of the Holy Spirit

The Bible clearly records: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

To whom was this said? It was said to believers. Today, believers seem to think they have already received power, but in reality, they have not. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has not descended upon them. The Christians of that time were waiting for Jesus Christ to ascend to heaven. What blessed Christians they were! Yet even such Christians lacked power and had to wait for the Holy Spirit to descend from heaven, let alone Christians in our generation today. Those Christians were personally trained by Jesus. After their training, they went out to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. Did they have power? Yes, they did. But was that power the same as what Jesus spoke of today? Actually, it was not. If the Holy Spirit descending upon them was superfluous, Jesus would not have arranged it. What Jesus arranged was of utmost importance.

Later, the disciples gathered in the Upper Room and prayed fervently for one thing: the descent of the Holy Spirit. They prayed in the house until the day of Pentecost:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)

This clearly describes the situation of the Holy Spirit's descent at that time. What remarkable things happened after the Holy Spirit came? The apostle Peter began to be very powerful. Previously, Peter was timid as a mouse. When asked if he was a disciple of Jesus, he denied it. Asked if he knew Jesus, he said he did not. After denying the Lord three times, he looked at Jesus, and Jesus' eyes met his. He felt terrible. But what was the problem? Why did Peter deny the Lord three times? He had been willing to give his life for Jesus, and just that very night, he had sworn to Jesus:

Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33)

But when the Holy Spirit had not descended upon Peter, a servant girl pointed out that Peter was with Jesus, and he immediately denied it. We find that people often become weak in critical moments. Peter knew very well how important it was to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Everywhere he went, he preached the gospel in this way, all based on the Bible.

Receiving the Holy Spirit Is a Crucial Step

The same Book of Acts yields different understandings to different people, which I find puzzling. When I read it, I discover that Peter read it differently from how we read it today. Do not think that we are reading it correctly and Peter was correct. Peter read it correctly at the time, which is why he had power!

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 8:14-16)

How clearly this speaks! Do not assume that many things are automatic. I, who study automation, know that nothing is automatic; there are always steps. Peter and John never considered receiving the Holy Spirit to be an automatic step. There is no such thing as automatic. Why have today's Christians turned it into something automatic? Believing in the Lord, being baptised, and then the Holy Spirit is already inside the body—this is a huge lie and misconception! If that were the case, why did the disciples before Jesus' ascension need to receive the Holy Spirit? Did Jesus make a mistake? Actually, we are the ones who are mistaken. Everyone must know that when a person is baptised into the name of Jesus Christ, the work is not yet complete. What else needs to be done? The laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:17)

Is this any different from the first receiving of the Holy Spirit? No, it is not. They began to pray in tongues. I wrote a course on the website called Removing the Misconceptions of Praying in Tongues, which also discusses this matter. This is related to the power of Christians. Let us look closely at two of the greatest figures, Peter and Paul—they both did this:

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” (Acts 19:1-2)

Paul also did the same. Wherever he went, he asked if they had received the Holy Spirit. Because they were very clear on one thing: this is in accordance with the Bible. Why do many people today lack power? It is because they have not received the Holy Spirit! A faith without receiving the Holy Spirit is a weak faith. Therefore, brothers and sisters, if you want to have a strong faith, start with receiving the Holy Spirit.

Having received the Holy Spirit, you will definitely pray in tongues. Do not be confused on this matter. The first time the Holy Spirit was received, there was praying in tongues, which was on the day of Pentecost. We do not need to argue about this point. Receiving the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues almost always occur simultaneously. If you examine the Bible carefully, you will find that this is always the case.

The Gospel We Believe Is the Power of God

Paul said at the beginning of Romans: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)

Then in 1 Corinthians, he said: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Some people say: I have not found any direct discussions about the life-changing power. If you go around in circles, you can come up with a reason, but I feel it is better to return to the Bible and look at the straightforward statements.

What is the power that Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians all about? “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

The demonstration refers to something that can be seen. What is the demonstration of the Spirit's power all about? If you ask me, I would answer with this passage: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17-18)

This is what Jesus said. Since we believe in Jesus, how can we not believe what Jesus said? Paul's statement about power is very clear in many places in the Bible:

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?” (Galatians 3:1-5)

This is accompanied by power, that is, with signs and wonders. And these signs will accompany those who believe. If there are no signs and wonders, then this faith is worth considering. I believe this power must be directly linked with the power of Jesus, that is, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons.

Our faith must be built on the demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power, but where does this demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power come from? It comes from receiving the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters must know that being filled with the Holy Spirit is key to obtaining power. Without receiving the Holy Spirit, Christians work so hard! If you are a Christian but are having a hard time, you need to receive the Holy Spirit.

Being Filled with the Holy Spirit Requires Persistent and Importunate Seeking

Some people are very strange; they think that after receiving the Holy Spirit, they do not need to do anything else. How can that be the case? Reading the Bible also cannot replace receiving the Holy Spirit. Being baptised in water cannot replace being baptised in the Holy Spirit. You must know that we believe in a complete system. This is what we talked about in the first three lessons of Chinese Mingding Destiny.

Receiving the Holy Spirit is crucial and is the most important component of the faith of Jesus Christ. But if you say that after receiving the Holy Spirit, you do not need to read the Bible, I do not agree with that either. In the next lesson, I will talk about how truth cannot be replaced. Just as an engine cannot replace wings, I will simply extract a few passages from the Bible for everyone to see. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is very interesting. I have led many people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but no matter how I tried, they could not be filled. Later, I discovered that these people had doubts.

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:11)

Does the Holy Spirit bestow upon everyone according to His own will, or according to our desire? Everyone should begin to ponder this. We must find the basis in the Bible. The Book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke were both written by Luke, forming a complete system:

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.” (Luke 11:5-8)

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13)

It turns out that being filled with the Holy Spirit comes from people's urgent prayer and seeking. You must know for sure that the Spirit of our God is a very noble Spirit and requires urgent and direct seeking. I have emphasised many times to pray loudly! How did the Christians in the first few chapters of Acts pray? They kept praying there, asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, until the Holy Spirit finally came down on the day of Pentecost. Our God likes this kind of person, and I am this kind of person. Unlike Jesus, I never give up! I must prevail against God and against man. No matter what, God, you must give it to me! Some people say that is disrespecting God's sovereignty, but in fact, it is precisely God's intention.

God likes this kind of person, and I want to be this kind of person. Some people say that God likes this kind of person, but God did not say He would predestine it for you. I do not know if God has predestined it or not, but I do not care whether God has predestined it or not. I only care about one thing—what can I do? I will cry out, God! Fill me with the Holy Spirit! Holy Spirit! Fill me! This is my pursuit.

In fact, there were many blind people in Jericho. These blind people saw Jesus passing by and thought: He is just passing by! Anyway, it will not be my turn. He is so busy, he has no time to pay attention to me! But there was a blind man, Bartimaeus, who shouted loudly, Ah! Son of David! Then Jesus said, Come here, what do you want? The man replied, I want to see! Then Jesus healed him, and he could see! How good is that!

If Bartimaeus had waited passively there, thinking, If Jesus sees that I am blind and has compassion on me, He will heal me; but if He does not see me and does not heal me, forget it! Anyway, I cannot see, so this is how my life will be. That would be troublesome! Many blind people are not healed for this reason, not because of anything else, but because of themselves!

The First Function of the Holy Spirit: Manifesting God's Power

Do not over-emphasize the sovereignty of God. Start emphasizing God's will, which is for us to obtain. The Bible clearly states that God will baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Do not assume that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is sufficient. In fact, the Bible does not discuss the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but it clearly discusses the coming of the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. It seems inappropriate to describe the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as being filled with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because being filled with the Holy Spirit is related to power. If one believes in Jesus but does not resemble Him, then there is a big problem! Jesus cast out demons with just a touch, but we cannot do it no matter how hard we try. It does not matter if we cannot do it, but some people even pray people to death. This is a lack of power, a lack of the desire that Jesus had, and a lack of the character of Jacob.

We must inject something called the character of Jacob into our faith. We should be the kind of people that God wants us to be, and then we will live abundantly, which is the great power of the Gospel.

It is a tragedy to be powerless when we are alive. What is the power used for? To perform miracles. Miracles are the power in our ministry. When we minister to others, the power of the Holy Spirit is released through us. When we begin to pray extensively in tongues, you will definitely experience the great power of the Holy Spirit.

Some people preach that this is the anointing. What is the anointing? The anointing is not something strange. The anointing is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the anointing. There is a legend that some famous prophets were very anointed, and after they died, they still had anointing on their bodies. So, some people go to the tombs of highly anointed prophets to absorb the anointing.

I cannot find this in the New Testament Bible. There is indeed a similar experience of Elisha in the Old Testament Bible. I think it is quite interesting, but it would be a bit mysterious if we did this. The Bible clearly states that the Holy Spirit is the anointing, and the anointing is the Holy Spirit. Pray with a desire, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Through our service, many people think that this gift is related to the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit seem to be given to everyone according to God's will. Then, according to what will does God give to everyone? According to the desire of man.

The giving of the Holy Spirit is related to longing, and so is the anointing. God cannot but give you the anointing if you desire to serve Him, because the anointing is used for serving. If we do not serve, but desire to have the anointing, what will you do with the anointing? That is a very dangerous thing.

Start understanding today that being filled with the Holy Spirit is the key to power. There is no need to go to the tomb to absorb the anointing. It would be good if you did not absorb the spirit of death from the tomb. Start re-recognizing the truth, and implement some very straightforward and obvious truths well. What I talked about in Acts chapters 8 and 19, are those not obvious truths?

The Second Function of the Holy Spirit: Leading Us into Truth

There are many things we do not understand. For example, at the beginning, I did not understand how to practice the Word of God. I could not figure it out no matter how hard I tried, so I knelt down and prayed, for one day, two days, three days... many days passed, and suddenly the Spirit of God revealed how to write chapter 1 and chapter 2 of the Bible, making everything clear. So, the Holy Spirit leading us into truth is a very important teaching.

If you do not have long periods of prayer, it is really difficult to obtain. Why was Paul's ministry so powerful? He also left many epistles, which can become our Bible today. If there were no Bible from Paul, then the New Testament Bible would be too thin, and we would have less to read. We must know that the Holy Spirit leads us into truth. Why could Paul write so many epistles? Because Paul prayed in tongues more than anyone else, and the amount of the Holy Spirit that filled Paul was very large. Do not think that the amount is not important. There is a huge difference between being filled with a little of the Holy Spirit and being filled with a lot of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit limitlessly. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit limitlessly today, the Holy Spirit will lead us to manifest the power of God and enter into truth. Your ministry cannot but be like Jesus.

Today, many of the truths of our Chinese Mingding Destiny are obtained through our prayers. Why can we obtain them through prayer? Because we constantly seek. We see those unreasonable and unbiblical phenomena, and we constantly pray and seek. In the process of seeking, we realize the truth, and the Holy Spirit will truly reveal it to us. It turns out that the white words on the black paper in the Bible are written very clearly. When we see it, our whole person has light, which is truly an incomparably good thing.

The Third Function of the Holy Spirit: By the Spirit, Put to Death the Deeds of the Body

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty (Zechariah 4:6).

Today, we must know for sure that we can accomplish things by the Spirit of God, which has a great relationship with how much of the Holy Spirit we have. My personal experience is very consistent with what is described in the Bible. It is not that I want to use experience to prove that the Bible is correct, but because when I implement what God said in the Bible, it is really so. That is to say, reading the word of God and then practicing it is a very wonderful truth.

The Bible clearly records that by the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the body. You cannot overcome yourself or the flesh by relying on the flesh or human methods. That is why Peter denied the Lord three times when he was not filled with the Holy Spirit. People are really weak when they rely on themselves, but they can put to death the deeds of the body by the Holy Spirit.

Today, we must have a very clear understanding of God. Where to start? Start with the Holy Spirit. I encourage everyone to pray in tongues extensively and to pray with understanding extensively. Do not think that praying in tongues extensively can replace praying with understanding. It is not like that.

Praying in tongues extensively cannot replace reading the Bible. Today, we must both read the Bible and pray in tongues extensively. When there are some things that cannot be understood after reading the Bible, kneel down and pray, seek, and you will find that the Spirit of God will really reveal it to you.

The Spirit of God reveals to me, reveals to the Apostle Paul, and reveals to the people of our generation, so the Spirit of God will also reveal to you. We must know that the power of the Holy Spirit is the key. It is very important to put to death the deeds of the body by the power of the Holy Spirit. If our flesh cannot be put to death, it is difficult to live out the glory of God, because the Holy Spirit and the lust of the flesh are in conflict.

After knowing these truths, understanding that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a powerful Gospel, externally healing the sick and casting out demons, internally putting to death the deeds of the body, and renewing our minds by the Holy Spirit, is a particularly wonderful thing. Today, receiving such grace and sharing it with others is one of the very core value systems in Chinese Mingding Destiny.

May God bless everyone!